Eighteen Auto Parts, a family owned auto-body shop, has been in Willets Point, Queens, since 1984. Twenty four years later business owners prepare to say good bye to the area…
Eighteen Auto Parts, a family owned auto-body shop, has been in Willets Point, Queens, since 1984. Twenty four years later, Joseph Corel, who inherited the business from his father, is ready to leave his business and the auto-repairing industry altogether as the city announces its development plans to convert Willets Point from an industrial junkyard into a residential area and a convention center with shopping and recreational space.
"As a city that is built out to the edges we look to areas that were formerly successful industrial areas for housing opportunities,’” Jennifer Torres, a spokesperson for Department of City Planning, stated.
The City collects $1,1 million each year in real estate taxes from Willets Point businesses, according to Hunter College Land Use Study conducted in 2006. The City estimates that after redevelopment Willets Point would generate at least $1.5 billion in revenue for the city.
The City of New York rezoned the Greenpoint and Williamsburg waterfront in 2005. Other major rezoning projects include the construction of a new Police Academy campus at a former auto-pound’s site in College Point, Queens, the redevelopment from industrial to residential of the Gowanus Canal area in Brooklyn, and plans to transform Brooklyn Navy Yard into a media center. |
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